Building a New Path Forward Through the UC Excelerator Scholarship

After years working in software and product design, Christopher Dorner found himself at a crossroads that is familiar to many professionals in the tech industry. As hiring slowed and roles shifted across the Bay Area, he began looking for a way to strengthen his leadership skills, expand his network and build a more sustainable future.

Applying to and receiving our Career Excelerator Award gave him access to Berkeley-quality education, mentorship and career support that helped transform uncertainty into opportunity.

By completing our project management certificate, Christopher discovered not only rigorous coursework, but also a diverse community of students and instructors who challenged him to think differently about leadership and impact. Now working with GiveDirectly on programs supporting overlooked communities, he credits the scholarship experience with helping him grow both personally and professionally.

Tell me about your experiences before coming to UC Berkeley Extension.

I had some college experience but never completed a formal degree. I worked in software design so the hard and soft skills were more important than dedicated focus in a particular field.

I decided a certificate in project management would help round off that experience and shape me into an effective leader.

What draws you to learning more about project management? 

I joined a nonprofit a few years back that was undergoing a digital transformation to translate their program design into a digital product offering. I was brought on as an individual contributor and the first UX design hire.

Later, I was promoted to senior product design manager, and the responsibilities of that role shifted from executing design in Figma files to organizing workflows and managing project lifecycles and product pipelines. But I wasn't formally trained in this work so I decided a certificate in project management would help round off that experience and shape me into an effective leader.

What drew you to the scholarship opportunity? How does it fit in with your lived experiences and what you’re looking to achieve for your future? 

During the time UC Berkeley Extension announced the inaugural cohort, it was a good time to explore new ways of thinking about careers, especially for someone like myself with a tech and design background. I saw a significant downturn in tech hiring, especially here in the Bay Area. A lot of jobs were disappearing due to macroeconomic trends and technological innovations. With that, what wasn’t discussed was how a lot of those jobs are not coming back.

With the scholarship, I was hoping to explore a new career field and grow my network. 

The courses are rigorous and the knowledge that is disseminated from that system is a level above what you can learn informally in the workforce.

Did the scholarship change what felt possible for you at that moment?

Absolutely. UC Berkeley Extension is Berkeley! The courses are rigorous and the knowledge that is disseminated from that system is a level above what you can learn informally in the workforce. I was able to apply immediate learnings in leadership and operations to projects in my workplace, which resulted in improvements in morale and workflow.

The academic advising is a true value-add and complements the classroom experience in an inseparable way.

Tell me about your experience in receiving academic advising. Was this a new experience for you?

Jan, the academic adviser dedicated to this scholarship, is excellent! I cannot stress enough how open and dedicated he is to students.

We discussed my goals and my challenges and worked through them together. He really expanded my mind in how I approached networking and job search. He even took the time to introduce me to a few other people in the UC network. The academic advising is a true value-add and complements the classroom experience in an inseparable way.

I credit a lot of my success at UC Berkeley Extension to the academic advising sessions and Jan's effort to assist students in achieving their goals and dreams.

The instructors were commensurate professionals in their fields, and the small class sizes allowed each instructor to give one-on-one attention to every student.

Tell me about your experience going through the classes. Did earning the scholarship provide an additional motivation to succeed?

What is great about UC Berkeley Extension that you won’t get from a traditional undergrad or grad program is the diversity of students. My classes were filled with folks from all different backgrounds at different stages in their professional and educational careers. If you consider the academic work on social capital, such is the exact environment needed to be able to grow yourself across dimensions.

The instructors are incomparable. They were commensurate professionals in their fields, and the small class sizes allowed each instructor to give one-on-one attention to every student.

The scholarship definitely provided additional motivation for me because I did not want to waste this opportunity. The academic intensity of the courses makes you, as someone who is an adult and may already have a career, consider if the stress and the commitment is worth it. I tell you, it is!   

Tell me about your experience in the Career Foundations workshops. What new skills do you feel more comfortable with? 

I enjoyed the wide array of guest speakers from the Career Foundations workshops. I was able to connect with a couple of them outside of class, including for informational interviews. Their backgrounds really demonstrated that some careers are not always linear.

I’m hoping I can use these skills to encourage change and build community in my neighborhood and city.

Were you working full time while taking classes? If so, were you able to translate lessons learned to your work? 

I was working full time for the majority of my time and was exploring a few different paths. Toward the end of my certificate, I was working for a last mile logistics company and my learnings from the project management pathway allowed me to identify some major inefficiencies in their operation. I designed an operations plan that would implement systems change and more effectively capture and multiply productivity.

What does earning this certificate mean for you personally and professionally? 

Personally, I’ve grown more confident. Working through the case studies and leading group projects allowed me to understand how organization and project management can transform even the most mundane of chores or life circumstances into possibilities to achieve optimal results.

Professionally, I can identify challenges in the workplace more easily and collaborate and brainstorm solutions.

I’m hoping I can use these skills to encourage change and build community in my neighborhood and city. 

I feel extremely prepared because I am confidently applying what I learned in the certificate to my work now.

You’ve landed your first role as a project manager at GiveDirectly—congrats! How has earning the certificate prepared you for this new stage?

I’m working in the U.S. Programs team at GiveDirectly, specifically a Guaranteed Income pilot program with the California Department of Social Services to support aging adults in San Joaquin County who are at risk of becoming unhoused.

I feel extremely prepared because I am confidently applying what I learned in the certificate to my work now. I have already identified several frameworks and artifacts that my current organization uses that were extensively covered in my courses.

I also see strong potential to introduce new frameworks!

Has this experience changed how you think about access to education or opportunity for others?

It has, and I encouraged a former colleague to apply to the UC Excelerator scholarship and she is thriving! She has faced similar barriers to education but now has the freedom to learn and connect with others in her intellectual cohort.  

In one sentence, what did the Career Excelerator Award make possible for you?

It gave me access to a source material that transformed me into a true leader in my personal and professional life.